Sony confirms 23rd March, £425 PlayStation 3

Sony has officially confirmed that PlayStation 3 will launch in Europe on 23rd March and cost GBP 425 / EUR 599.

The company has said it aims to make one million consoles available across Sony Computer Entertainment Europe territories on launch day. Estimates suggest around 300,000 units will be available in the UK.

What's more, Eurogamers can expect to have more than 30 titles to choose from. In addition to obvious candidates like Resistance: Fall of Man, Genji: Days of the Blade, Ridge Racer 7 and MotorStorm, we're also told to expect Formula One Championship Edition.

Third parties signed up to support the launch include Electronic Arts, Activision, SEGA, Ubisoft, Vivendi, Namco Bandai, Take-Two and Sony Online Entertainment. You can read our estimated launch line-up elsewhere.

Naturally that GBP 425 beast is the 60GB PS3 model, which also includes Wi-Fi support, and we're told that the 20GB version will not be offered immediately - and will instead follow "later in the year dependent on demand". Its absence is said to be a response to "retail and consumer demand".

"Following the hugely successful launches of PS3 in Japan and North America, we are absolutely delighted to be able to bring significant numbers of PS3 to the UK," said Sony UK managing director Ray Maguire.

"To be able to launch with over 30 titles including retail versions and great downloadable gaming experiences across every genre shows that this is our strongest launch line-up in the history of PlayStation, and is what PlayStation fans in the UK have been crying out for."

PlayStation 3 is already available in the US and Japan of course, where it launched last November.